Cost & value / The headline figure
There is no single price, and a company that quotes one down the phone is guessing. The real figure tracks your system, your access and your grease load - not an average.
Why the number moves
Ask what a commercial kitchen deep clean costs and the honest answer is: it depends on your kitchen. Any firm that quotes a flat figure down the phone, before seeing the system, is guessing - and usually guessing low to win the call.
Published UK price guides give a sense of the territory: a professional extract and duct clean typically lands somewhere between a few hundred and a couple of thousand pounds, and a full kitchen deep clean usually starts higher. Those are useful for budgeting, but they are a range, not your price. Your figure sits wherever your own system, access and grease load put it.
What sits behind the figure
Most of the cost is in what you cannot see over the phone. The length and complexity of the ductwork is the big one - a short, straight run off a single canopy is a different job from a multi-bend duct rising through a roof void. The number of canopies and the equipment mix matter too: fryers, chargrills and solid-fuel ovens throw far more grease than a bank of combi ovens.
Then there is access - whether the duct can be reached through existing panels or needs scaffolding, roof access or new access panels cut in - and the grease level, because a system left far too long takes longer to bring back to standard. Add out-of-hours working to avoid closing, and you have the real drivers. None of them show up in an average.
Why we survey before quoting
This is why a proper quote follows a survey, not a phone call. Walking the kitchen, opening the system and measuring the grease is the only way to turn guesswork into a figure you can hold the invoice against. It also protects you from the opposite problem - the low phone quote that climbs once the crew arrives and finds the real system.
Our own pricing is quoted on survey for exactly this reason. We would rather give you a firm number for the actual job than a tempting one for a job that is not yours.
Reading a quote properly
When the numbers come back, the trap is comparing totals instead of scope. A cheaper quote that cleans filters and canopy but skips the duct run, or leaves out the TR19 verification report, is not the same job as one that does the whole system to standard and certificates it.
So a headline figure is necessary for budgeting, but on its own it is not enough. Only a survey - and a like-for-like read of what each quote actually includes - turns a number into a decision. The next guides in this cluster break down exactly where quotes diverge and what a price should always contain.
Questions
No. Published UK guides show a wide band because the price tracks your system - the extract run, the equipment, the access and how much grease has built up. A phone quote without a survey is a guess.
Industry price guides put a typical extract and duct clean anywhere from a few hundred to a couple of thousand pounds, with a full kitchen deep clean usually starting higher. Your figure sits wherever your system puts it.
Because most of the cost lives in things you cannot see down the phone: the length and complexity of the ductwork, the number of canopies, the access, and the grease level. A survey turns a guess into a real number.
It should. A compliant clean includes a TR19 post-clean verification report with before and after photos and grease readings. If a quote leaves that out, it is not costing the same job.
Often, yes - cleaning overnight or around service adds labour, but it keeps you trading. It is one of the factors a survey prices in rather than a hidden surprise on the invoice.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We survey your kitchen and extract system, then quote against what is actually there - with the TR19 certificate included, not bolted on. Tell us your setup for a figure you can trust.